Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Future Dates
11/15 & 15 Fri. & Sat. Hoops for Hope
11/18 Mon. Board Meeting
11/20 Wed. Warsaw Community Schools Symphony / Blue Apron dessert
11/22 Fri. Grace College Community Wind Ensemble
11/23 Sat. Robotics Teams competition at Manahan Orthopedic Capital Center
11/27 Wed. Boy Scout Bake Sale
12/4 Wed. Brad Hagg / Warsaw Community High School CTO
12/4 Wed. Warsaw High School Gymnastics / Andi Calhoun
12/7 Sat. Bell Ringing for Salvation Army
12/11 Wed. Lakeland Youth Chorale
12/11 Wed. Girls Basketball / Michelle Harter
12/18 Wed. Optimist Singers Christmas Carols / White Elephant Auction
12/25 Wed. No Meeting
1/1 Wed. No Meeting
1/8 Wed. 100 Years of Winona Lake / Terry White
1/8 Wed. Warsaw Community High School Wrestling / Justin Smith
1/15/14 Wed. Walk-n-Wonder Warsaw / Michelle Bormet & Darla
1/15/14 Wed. Warsaw Community High School Girls Swim & Dive / Nate Long
1/22/14 Wed. Warsaw Community Schools Symphony
1/29/14 Wed. Warsaw Community High School Boys Swim & Dive / Nate Long
2/5/14 Wed. Warsaw Community High School Boys Basketball / Doug Ogle
2/12 Wed. KCH / Affordable Care Act
2/12 Wed. Student of the Week
2/19 Wed. Kosciusko County Cancer Care Fund / Sandy Green
2/19/14 Wed. Student of the Week
2/26 Wed. Warsaw Police Chief Scott Whitaker
2/26/14 Wed. Student of the Week
3/5/14 Wed. WCHS Poetry Contest Winners
3/5/14 Wed. Student of the Week
3/12/14 Wed. Warsaw Schools Band
3/12/14 Wed. Student of the Week
3/19/14 Wed. Oratorical Contest Winners
3/26/14 Wed. Warsaw Community Schools Chief Academic Officer David Hoffert
4/16 Wed. DARE / Lt Joel Beam
4/30 Wed. Josh Wildman CEO of Wildman Business Group
5/7 Wed. Splash Pad / Erin Porter
5/14 Wed. Sheriff Rocky Goshert
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Past President Tracy Furnivall led our meeting.
>>>>OPENING
82 Optimists & 6 guests attended our meeting. Eric Lane was the guest of Rich Haddad; Jeremy Kilgore was the guest of Rob Edling; Suzanne Caudill was the guest of Robert Lee; Paul Kornfeind III was the guest of Steve McGlothhin; Andy Lewis guest of Akash Jain; & Chris Gensinger was the guest of Coaches Jim Kessler & Akash Jain.
Door Greeters: Ron Chambers.
Prayer: Max Mock led us in prayer.
Pledge was given to the American flag.
Promise yourself was said in unison.
Millie Andrews led us in singing Hail to Optimism.
Birthday Honorees: Dr. Jenny Lucht, John Sullivan, & Eli Demopoulos. Dr. David Haines led us in the birthday song with good results.
>>>> INFORMATION
Membership: Kellie Malcolm read Chris Scheeven’s and Eric Lane’s applications. Ann Sweet and Rich Haddad sponsored Chris and Eric.
President Everett Nifong reported the following Board action:
No meeting December 25 nor January 1.
The Valentine’s Banquet has been cancelled. Attendance has dwindled.
The next board meeting is Monday, November 18th at 6 p.m.
Our new directory is due out soon. If your birthday is not in our existing directory, please submit your month and day of birth to Everett or Jim Hayes.
Canned Food Chairman Luke Becknell collected money today. We will bring canned food or preferably money to our meetings until Thanksgiving.
Salvation Army Bell Ringing Chairman Merl Heckaman reported we are bell ringing Saturday, December 7 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Kmart and both the North and South doors at WalMart. When you sign up, remember to take your reminder slip at the bottom of the page. Merl sang the Salvation Army Bell Ringing Song for us. It was a good reminder of the good the Salvation Army does.
Past President Bob Jackson and Coach Jim Kessler invited us to the Terry Polston Hoops for Hope tournament at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center Friday, November 15 starting at 2 p.m. and Saturday, November 16 starting at 10 a.m. Tickets are $5. Proceeds go to our Kosciusko County Cancer Care Fundthat helps families who are fighting cancer to cover some of their incidental expenses.
Past Lt. Gov. Dr. David Haines provided our first post to our Year in Review series. It is featured on the front page of our website. Here is a direct linkhttps://warsawoptimist.org/
Remember to bring some money to our November 27 Cub Scout Bake Auction.
Martin Becker invited us to Grace College Community Wind Ensemble’s Flashback 1963 concert, Friday, November 22 at 7:30 p.m. at Rodeheaver. Selections will remind us of JFK and the Beatles.
Sergeants-at-Arms: Luke Becknell entertained us. Video Editor Jim Hayes introduced us to a new graphic and sound of our Sergeants as “The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly.”
Coach Jim Kessler gave kudos to Chris Gensinger for his time playing for Kess at Grace. It is a good thing Chris stayed in shape. Tracy Furnivall heard that Chrisand Tom Ray got lost running and ended up going the long way around. It ended up being a 10 mile run. That reminds us of Fred Nieter’s last story. We forgot to ask Chris about the dead horses on the road.
Gina Voelz is proud of her daughter, Katie Voelz for being named to the All Conference Volleyball team and being nominated to the All State team.
Roland Kramer is glad to be back after visiting the Middle East. He visited many locations in Jordan, Israel, & Iraq.
Jim Kessler coached Jerry Titus on the use of enthusiasm in advertising.
Dr. David Haines invited us to see Mayor Dr. Joe Thallemer perform at a fund raiser at the Wagon Wheel Theatre, Saturday, November 16 at 6:30 p.m. It is a who-done-it murder mystery. Cost is $60 per person.
Laurie Schotz invited us to see The Beat Club, a Beatles tribute band at the Performing Arts Center (PAC) at Warsaw High School at 2 p.m. on Sunday, November 17. Tickets are $25 and student tickets are $15. Mention the poster to get the 2nd adult ticket for free.
It was noted that people are continuing to sit at different tables. However our ladies’ table is at the exact same table. They just picked it up and carried it 2 rows over. Luke promised to give the guy who is comfortable sitting with them $1 next week. To get the dollar you have to sit with them.
Past President Tracy Furnivall’s parents have been married for 50 years.
Legendary Storyteller Fred Nieter told us about Bob and Betty Hill, who were driving through Transylvania. One night they had a car accident & Bob carried Betty to the nearby house. The servant said they did not have a phone, but his master was a doctor. The master said he was not a medical doctor, but that he did experiments and had a lot of medical books in his basement. They took Betty to the basement, but she died. Then Bob died of a heart attack. The master of the house went upstairs and started to play his big pipe organ. The servant, Egor, stayed in the basement. He saw Betty’s finger move to the music. He then noticed Bob’s finger doing the same. He ran upstairs and exclaimed, to his master “The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music.”
Program:
Eisenhower Elementary principal Chris Gensinger introduced us to our own Akash Jain. He told of Akash’s hours upon hours of volunteer time per week on behalf of the Eisenhower Robotics Club. The kids respect Akash’s sacrifice and have great attendance. Of course we are aware of Akash’s hard work on our behalf. He & his team have booked programs way out into the future.
The Eisenhower Robotics Team named themselves the Banana Blizzard. This year’s team members are: Sam Lechlitner, Nate Lechlitner, Ian Wallick, Ian Peloza, Eli Demopoulos, Brayden Lane, Abby Motter, Tyler Barber, Emerson Wong, Harrison Lewis, & Ananaya Jain.
The kids engineer their Lego robot to do a task to help with a natural disaster. The Banana Blizzard did a skit about saving the Komodo Dragon in Indonesia from earthquakes. Their creative idea is GroundNet that turns the energy from the stress that causes earthquakes into electricity.
The team members told us some of their core values they learned from their teamwork. The kids pick these core values for themselves. They learned they cannot do everything by themselves. They learned they can learn a lot even if they do not win. They learned the coach can only help and they do not always have the answer. They learned a team can do what an individual cannot do. It sounds like we have some future Optimist members.
They will compete at Grace’s Manahan Orthopedic Capital Center on Saturday, November 23 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Twenty local teams will compete.
